Hotbed-operating mechanism.



H. D. WILLIAMS & W. AHLEN. HOTBED OPERATING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED NOV 22, 1913.

1,117,615. I Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

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APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22, 1913.

1,117,615. Patente d Nov. 17, 1914.

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APPLICATION FILED NOV, 22, 1913- 1,,1 17,615, Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

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WITNESSES INVENTCR m w d/gm HO1VIER D. WILLIAMS AND WILLIAM Altman, OF DUQUESNE. FENNSYPVANIA.

fiOTBED-0PEPtATING IEIECI'IANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patent ed Nov. 17, 1914.

I Application filed November 22. 1913. Serial No. 802,463.

To all f/mm it mug 1 r'o/u'crn Be it known that we. lloiinu l). \Vumrnis and llr .I.\.\l imam, both residents oi l)uquesne, in the county of Allegheny and State of l.cnns 'lvania, have invented certain-new and usclul Improvements in llotbed-()perating iilcchanisms, of which the tollon'ing is a specification.

()nr invention relates to apparatus eniploycd in handling and storing rolled metal bars and similar il-q-xihle materials of small cross section and relatively long length and while not limited to such uses, more particularly relates to apparatu" known in the a rt' as hot beds and used in handling and storing such n'iaterials during the time interval in which they are being cooled from the heated condition in which they are received from the finishing passes of a rolling mill.

()no object of our invention to provide .a hot bed ot the creeping type having novel means whereby the hot bed is actu: atcd in handling and conveying materials delivered alongside the hot bed from one side to the other of the hot bed.

Another object of our-invention is to pro vide a hot bed of improved ccmatruetion' having serrated or notched supporting bars arranged to transfer the materials being handled across the width of the hot bed by a step by step movement and having a supporting bar actuating mechanism in the use of which the materials are successively lifted and are moved from the notches oi? one set of supporting bars into those in another set of supporting bars, with the sets of bars alternately acting to receive and to lillt the metal and co-acting to engage with and support the materials being t-raust'erred between each lifting operation.

A further object of our invention is to provide a'hot bed having improved means for delivering the bars from the notched bars forming the hot bed and for collecting andassembling, in a group, the materials delivered from the hot bed, preparatory to being transferred to a delivery table on which the materials are carried lengthwise away from alongside the hot bed to a shear or place of storage.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan showing a portion of a hot bcd equipped with a hotbed operating mechanism constructed and arranged in accordance with our invent on. 2 IS a Sectional end elevation of the apparatus of Fig. i. Fig. I is a do tail sectional end elevation of the apparatus ol l ltl'h. 'l and 3. Fig. l is a detail sectional elevation on the line l'\"---l\ of Fig. ll. Fig.

5 is a detail. sectional plan, the section being taken on the line \'---'v' of Jig. ll. i in the accompanying drawings, the numerals and It designate serrated or notched conveyor bars which are mounted upon suitable longitudinal beams or girders i ii and tii' andarc arranged to form independently movable sets. The notched conveyor bars 2 Forming one setare mounted upon the beams or girders -l--5 and the notched conveyor bars 3 forming the other set are mounted upon the beams on girders r3-7.

The sets of beams -land 5 and l and 7 are secured to the ends of transversely extending roekiiig beams or supports 8 and i), which are provided at intervals in the length of the hot bed, and are pivoted at their outer ends to one end of rocking arms 10. The supports and 9 are mounted, at an intermediate point in thcirlength, upon positely extending eccentrics 11 and 12 each oi the beams 8 being mounted upon an eccentrie ii and the beams l) on an eccentric 12. The eccentrics ii and l) are secured on or may form an integral part of the eccentric shaft which extends lengthwise parallel to the length of the hot bed beneath the series of notched conveyor bars '1 and 3 and the shaft 13 is arranged to be intermittently rotated.

Center lines through the long diameters of the oppositely extending eccentrics 11 and 12 are in the same plane and when thescts of conveyor bars 2 and 3 are at rest. as is the case between the intermittent lll'tllig movements of these bars, a center line through the center of the eccentric/shaft and the long diameters of the eccentrics ex- .tends horizontally. so that in this way the hot bed is balanced. v

The hot bed rene/rally is very long (between 4,50 and 000 feetin this particular case) so that at times and when some kinds of materials are being rolled it: is unnecessary to operate the entire length ol the hot bed. In such cases jaw clutch couplings are employed at about the middle of the length of the eccentric sha l-l which are arranged to be moved to disconnect one half from the driving mechanism and the other half of the length oi the hot bed.

The clutch couplings are formed of a jaw section 14 keyed or otherwise fastened to' one section'of the shaft 13 and a jaw section 15 fastened by a feather key to rotate \vith'tho adjacent section of this shaft having the drivii1g,'gear 2O thereon and to slide on the shaft to move its jaws into and out .of engagement with the jaws of the coupling members 14. Lever arms 16, 16 are secured on one end of clutch coupling operating shafts 17, 17 a which extend transversely beneath the conveyer bars and are pivoted at one end on brackets 17 fastened to con veniently located bearings 18 for the shaft 13. 'The other end of the shafts 17, and 17 project beyond throngh bearings 17 at one side of the hot bed and are provided with upwardly extending coupling shifting levers 19V or 19 by which the clutch couplings are actuated manually in connecting and disconn'ecting. the clutch jaws 14, 14 and -15',' 15 on. the adjoining ends of the .sections. of the shaft 13' Key ed or otherwise fastened to the middle section of the eccentric shaft 13 is a spur gear 20 which meshes with a larger spur gear 21 on the counter shaft 22. The ratio of the gear 21 to the gear 20 is as 2'to 1 so that with each half revolution of the eccentric shaft 13 the gear 21 must rotate onequarter revolution. of the eccentric shaft 13 moves the long axis of each eccentric through an arc of 180 degrees, or from a horizontal position 'on one side of a vertical plane through the center of the shaft 13 into a horizontal position on the opposite side of such plane.

Also. fastened on each end of the countershaft 22 is a ratchetwheel 23 having four teeth equally spaced at angles of 90 degrfee s, the teeth of these ratchet wheels being operatively engaged by the ratchet pawls '24ipivotally mounted between the forks of the rocking arms forming the Elli ratchet levers 25 which are pivoted atone end upon the ends of the shaft 22. ,Ihe ratchet pawls 24: are connected to one end of ropes 26 or like flexible members which pass over the sheave wheels 27 .28 andl29 and each rope 26 has a counterweight 30 to yieldingly hold .the swinging end of each ratchet pawl 24 in engagement .with the periphery of its co-acting ratchet wheel '23 Each swinging outer .end ofv the ratchet levers 25 is pivotally connected to an end of one of the connecting .rods 31,and the other ends of thes'e'rods 31 are-pivotally connected to the'crank pins 32 of the cranks 33 on the ends of the crank shaft 34. The

crank shaft 34 is mounted to rotate in bearings 35, 35 on the baseplate-36 and has a spur gear 37 meshing-with the spur pinion- 38 on the endof the motor countershaft 39 which is mounted in bearings 40, 40 forming part of the base plate 36. The countershaft' 39' has a spur, gear 'l'meshing with the Each half revolution driving pinion 42on the endof the armature shaft 13 of thedriving motor 14 which also is mounted on the base plate 36.

As shown in the drawings the notched conveyer bars forming the hot bed are located alongside a receiving table formed by the series of conoidal feed rollers 46, and on which the materials are'transferred lengthwise alongside the hot bed from the rolling mill or other point of supply. The rollers groove 47 through which they are driven by contact with the endless' jdriving rope 48,

46 are each provided at one end with a ropethis rope which is driven in any desired manner engaging with diametrically oppoceiving ends of the conveyer bar-s2 and '3 and are supported on the beams forming the sides of the receiving table supports.-

The lower edge or side of the apron plates 49 has an upwardly and outwardly inclined rib '50 forming stops for the materials supported on the apron plates 419. 'l Vith the apron plates-t9 arranged in this'manner the materials slide down the inclined surface thereof against the stops '50 into position to be engaged and lifted by the coni veyer bars 2 and 3 into the first set of notches in the notched conveyor bars.

As thebars or other materials are delivered by the inclined sides of the apron plates49 in position to be lifted into the first set of notches in the conveyer bars 2 and 3, the shaft 13 is caused to rotate,'which causes the eccentrics 11 and 12 to lift'the inner ends ofthe beams 8 and 9 and, through the beams l and 5, and6 and 7 lift the opposite ends of the supporting bars 2 and 3, one end of the series of. bars in each set being raised by this operation. hen this occurs; the materialsresting on the-hot bed will be engaged by the ends. of the conveyer bars '2 and .will beraised vertically and trans ferred sidewise thereby until above the adjacent set of notches in theother set of bars 3, and as the eccentrics 11 and '12 continue to rotate, the-bars will be deposited alternately in successive sets of notches in the sets of conveyerrbars' 2 and 3. After each half revolution has been completed, by the eccentrics the relative positionof the bars '2' and 3 is changed the receiving set of notches becoming the lifting set, while'the lifting set becomes the receiving'set.

It should be noted that when the bars of both sets are parallel, the notches in one set each of both sets ofbars while in this position. Itshould also be noted that the conare in'alinement with those in theother set, and that the materials are supported by a new lot of materials willywhen available have been transferred from the feed table rollers 46 and be deposited on the inclined apron plates 49.

The' 'above described operations are continued as the materials are supplied to the 4 hot bed by the receiving table. The notches in the sets of bars will become filled with move by a step by step movement across the length of the notched conveyor bars and are finally discharged upon the series of shuttle bars 51 and 52. These shufile bars are arranged in two sets and are secured at one end upon eccentrics 53 positioned at inter vals in the length of hot bed on the eccentric'shaft 54.. The shuflle bars are supported on the opposite side of the delivery table formedby the delivery table rollers upon crank arms 56, the arms 56 being mounted upon the lifting shaft 57. The delivery table rollers 55 are operated preferably by means of a'line shaft 58 and bevel gears 59,

60 driven by a suitable motor. (not shown) which construction. being old and well-known need not be further described. The eccon tric shaft 54 is also connected to a driving motor (not shown) so as to be rotated either constantly or intermittently and the lifting shaft 57 is arranged to. rock so as to swing the arms from the position shown into an upright position. Zhen so lifted the outer ends of the series of shutlle bars 51, 52 will be raised until their upper edges extend above the plane of the top of the table rollers and as the eccentrics 53 rotate, these shuilic bars alternately lift and thereby act to move materials collected thereon from the hot bed. until the materials are immediately above the rollers The shaft 57 which is operated by a suitable motor (not shown) is then swung to lower the crank arms which causes the materials upon tao shuflle bars to be transferred to the rollers. 55. These rollers are then rotated so as 'to transfer the materials thereon, endwi'so from alongside the discharging side of the hot bed.

The advantages of our invention will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. By

the novel construction shown and described, the bars are successively removed from a receiving table to the hot bed and the bars are then gradually moved by a step by step movement across the width of the hot bed,

this movement being regulated preferably by the time necessary to allow such bars to become cool and the materials are supported by each of the sets of conveyor bars between successive lifting operations. After the materials are transferred across the width of the hot bod, they are collected in groups and the grouped materials are then transferred bodily sidewise without any sliding movement and are deposited on the feed rollers of a receivingtable by which they are afterward transferred lengthwise to a place of disposal of such materials.

Modifications in the -construction and ar rangement of the parts may be made within the scope of our invention.

l. A hot bed comprising a plurality of conveyor bars arranged in independently lifting sets, mechanism for moving said sets of bars to alternately engage and lift ma-.

terials supported thereon in transferring the materials across the width of said hot bed, and means for intermittently actuating said moving mechanism, said means being adapted to stop the conveyor bars between lifting movements thereof, with the dipper -edges of said bars in supporting ongagoment with the materials being transferred.

2. A hot bed comprising a plurality of conveyer bars arranged in independently lifting sets, mechanism for moving said sets of bars to alternately engage and lift materials supported thereon in transferring the materials across the width of said hot bed, and means for intermittently actuating said moving mechanism said means being adapted to stop the conveyor bars between lifting movements thereof and bring the upper edges of said bars in the same plane.

3. A hot bed comprising a plurality of notched or serrated conveyor bars arranged in independently lifting sets, mechanism for moving said sets of bars to alternately engage and lift materials supported thereon in transferring the materials across the width of said hot bed, and means for intermittently actuating said moving"mechanism,

' said means being adapted to stop the conveyor bars botweenlifting movements thereof with the inclined edges ,of the notches or serrations in alinement.

4. A hot bed comprising a plurality of potched or serrated conveyor bars arranged in independently lifting sets, mechanism for moving said sets of bars to alternately engage and lift materials supported thereon in transferring the materials across the width of said hot bed, and means for intermittently actuating said moving mechanism, said' means being adapted to stop the conveyor bars between lifting movements thereof with the inclined edges of the notches or serrations in the same plane.

A- hot bed comprising a plurality of conveyer bars arranged in independently lifting sets means on which said sets of bars are pivotally mounted,'one set of the bars being pivotally supported at the opposite v side of the hot bed to that of the other, an

eccentric shaft having oppositely extending .eccentrics thereon engaging with said sets of bars and means for rotating said shaft, said last name'd means operating intermit- 10 tently and bringing the eccentrics to rest with a center line on their long diameter extending horizontally.

6. In a hot bed' he combination with a series of conveyer bars arranged in alternately lifting sets and an eccentric shaft by which said bars are actuated, of a shaft driving mechanism arranged tov intermittently actuate the shaft, said mechanism moving the logrs to bring the upper edges I thereby into alinement at the end of each eccentric a shaft driving mechanism comprising a ratchet wheel operatively connected tothe eccentric shaft .a swinging arm having a pawl operatively engaging with the ratchet wheel and means for swinging said arm to intermittently move the ratchet wheel and rotate the eccentric shaft.

I 8. In a hot bed the combination with a series of conveyer barsarranged in alternately lifting sets, and an eccentric shaft having oppositely extending eccentrics engaging with and lifting the sets of bars, of

i a shaft driving mechanism comprising a ratchet wheel operatively connected to the eccentric shaft, a swinging arm having a pawl operatively engaging with the ratchet wheel. and a rotary motor for actuating said swinging arm to intermittently move the v ratchet wheel to rotate'the eccentric shaft.

' In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands.

HOMER D. WILLIAMS. WILLIAM AI-ILEN.

Witnesses:

CHARL S MoK. MOORE, GEOR E L. Nnrr. 

